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marknem7 Elite user 497 Posts |
I only wish Ted Karmilovich would re-issue his paperback version.
VERY hard to find a used one. Nobody wants to give their's up! I think it adds greatly to the effect to give the audience a choice of books, paperback or hardbound, different titles/genres. |
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chrismatt Special user Why would you read any of my 978 Posts |
I prefer to use books that the Audience have brought with them. (How you get people to bring books to your show is another subject.) However, I see nothing wrong with adding a few gimmicked books to those gathered from the Audience and forcing one of those on the unsuspecting volunteer. I've almost always used several (4-5) different gimmicked books, so I'm never sure which BT I'll be doing until the book is selected. And sometimes, I actually use one of the ungimmicked books!
CM
Details make perfection, but perfection is no detail.
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stevelegg New user 6 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-10-01 00:37, marknem7 wrote: |
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stevelegg New user 6 Posts |
Thanks. The dictionary is a normal one. I can't give away the secret, but once you have the MOABT you will realise how I do it. It turns it from a great trick into an awesome test of memory!!
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Dick Christian Inner circle Northern Virginia (Metro DC) 2619 Posts |
Steve,
Your incorporation of the dictionary as a followup to MOAB was very nice and something rarely seen in association with MOAB.
Dick Christian
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eSamuels Inner circle 3085 Posts |
Very nice, Steve!
Love the dictionary add-on, as well as how you 'allow' the audience to make certain key decisions. Nicely done! |
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Caliban Special user 727 Posts |
Yes the dictionary add on is teriffic and the performance came across really well.
Why is it, though, that every magician I've ever seen perform MOABT (or any other book test using a special book that doesn really exist) always reads out the title of the book? I've often seen performers name the imaginary author too - and even ask the participants if they have read the book. The weak point of these effects is that you are using a novel that has never really been published and that nobody in the audience has ever heard of, so I've always thought that the title of the book should be played down as much as possible and never mentioned. |
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Dick Christian Inner circle Northern Virginia (Metro DC) 2619 Posts |
I agree with Caliban that other than in the case of a few special cases (e.g., The Shakespeare Experiment, The DaVinci Zone, Bible, dictionaries, and a few others) mentioning the title and/or author of the book -- especially if not familiar ones -- accomplishes nothing and draws unnecessary attention to the book and unless one is going to mention the titles and/or authors of all of the books used doing so make those NOT named suspect. With rare exception when presenting book tests the focus of attention should be on the test and the performer, the book(s) itself is only peripheral to the action and is best treated as if it were only incidental.
Dick Christian
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Keith Mitchell Special user 799 Posts |
I am hearing impaired and wish I could have heard those performances. How else am I going to learn if Magic DVDs are never closed captioned?
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Douglas Lippert Inner circle E Pluribus Unum 2343 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-10-01 19:31, madkiki wrote: Most magic producers don't have the money to do closed captioning. The magic marketplace isn't the most profitable. I'm sorry. There are thousands of magic books you can read though.
Douglas Lippert
Former I.B.M. Ring #8 Secretary |
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Caliban Special user 727 Posts |
MOABT does seem to be the book test that more working pro's use than any other.
There are other excellent book tests where the book is out of the performer's hands - Ne Plus Ultra, Shakespeare Experiment - but I suspect that MOABT is in more working acts because it offers a significantly higher level of repeatablity. There are enough different words that can be chosen to safely give the impression that it's a different word every show. This is a real issue for a working act, as professionals will often have to perform each show twice on a cruise ship or have people who've seen their main act several times. |
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Dave McFarland Regular user Portland, OR 184 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-10-02 04:43, Caliban wrote: So you can't repeat Ne Plus Ultra? |
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Caliban Special user 727 Posts |
Not as safely.
You can repeat Ne Plus Ultra for the same audience and guarantee a different result. But that relies on you being aware that they have seen it before, remembering what was chosen the first time, and taking steps to ensure that something different is chosen during the second performance. Most of the time you won't know if someone has seen your act before. Under those circumstances, it's quite possible for someone to see several performance of Ne Plus Ultra with a different revelation each time - but the same information is MUCH more likely to be repeated than than it is with MOABT. |
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Dave McFarland Regular user Portland, OR 184 Posts |
Thanks for the information Caliban.
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Dick Christian Inner circle Northern Virginia (Metro DC) 2619 Posts |
As Caliban has correctly pointed out, repeatability is a major factor in any performance of mentalism and especially so with regard to book tests. In selecting effects one needs to ensure that any effect that will be repeated (whether in the same or other performances) will have a different outcome. For example, IMO a book test ROUTINE using multiple books is much better than one that uses a single book for two reasons. First, it takes the heat off the book. Second, by using multiple books the performer, by implication, answers the unspoken question in the minds of many audience members, namely: "can he do that with ANY book?" IMO it is equally important when using multiple books that multiple methods be employed and that the revelations are varied as much as possible; e.g., sometimes the first word on the page, sometimes the last word, sometimes a complete sentence or phrase, sometimes an image that the performer draws or a scene that the performer describes, or an "emotion" that the performer senses, etc. This serves several purposes; i.e., it reinforces the premise that the performer is "capturing thoughts" instead of just "reading words" and at the same time makes it almost impossible for observers to "back engineer" the methods in play.
In that regard, MOAB is one of the very few gimmicked books that offer ALL of the following (IMO essential) features: 1) nothing required other than the book(s) itself 2) able to withstand the closest scrutiny 3) little or no handling by the performer required (VERY few meet that test) 4) repeatable with a virtual guarantee of a different result (even if repeated with another audience member in the same performance)
Dick Christian
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Roth Inner circle The 18 5090 Posts |
Dick, with all due respect this bullet is not true.
"2) able to withstand the closest scrutiny" what does that mean? MOABT has to be extremely "managed" Upon "close scrutiny" it has glaring inconsistencies. Which are key to being able to even do the effect. With proper handling by the performer it may not be an issue, but "withstand the closest scrutiny"? I think it may be the "most un-examinable" great book test out there. That said, book tests shouldn't need to be examined if the performer knows what they're doing, but "with stand the closest scrutiny" no way my friend. Rick |
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aukt Special user 763 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-10-02 12:45, Roth wrote: Wrong Rick. I've had those irritating spectators want to look and look and look - and they have never ever found anything untoward. Most spectators wont, but one in a hundred will want to be an *ass. They will never find anything. Anyone who thinks mother needs to be managed has a hardcore magicians hangover. It's certainly more examinable than the method employed in reflections and other similar 3 digit permutations examples. that's a fact. I would have no problem having anyone read a page or two of mother if they really insisted. they never would, but they could. No management of any marked kind is required. It might not pick up a turner prize, but it surely won't seem as gaffed as many others out there, including (and perhaps particularly)some of yours. |
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Roth Inner circle The 18 5090 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-10-02 12:52, aukt wrote: Anyone can turn as many pages as they like with Luna and not notice anything that glares out. I have to take exception again. Anyone that looks at more than 2 pages of MOABT closely will see the method. I'm not saying its not a good test, for stage its great. Your line "They will never find anything." with all due respect, are you kidding? The first time I saw MOABT I saw the gaff the second I opened the book. Like I said, with the right management, as with all book test, mine included, it should not be an issue, but don't tell me MOABT can withstand close scrutiny and "they will never find anything", not true. Rick |
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Steven Conner Inner circle 2720 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-10-02 14:23, Roth wrote: Rick, you probably picked up on the MOABT because of being a magician not as a lay person. The more knowledgeable you are, the easier to figure things out. To a lay audience, there is nothing to see. Besides, I have used the line a hundred times in other effects, "If it was a trick, I wouldn't let you examine it".
"The New York Papers," Mark Twain once said,"have long known that no large question is ever really settled until I have been consulted; it is the way they feel about it, and they show it by always sending to me when they get uneasy. "
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Roth Inner circle The 18 5090 Posts |
"To a lay audience, there is nothing to see"
if there is nothing to see, how do they find the word so easily? Like I said, its a good book test, I'm disputing the fact that you guys say "it can be completely scrutinized and "They will never find anything" Not true. |
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